


Cleaning up a Mess

by AnonEhouse



Category: Avengers (Comics), Captain America (Comics), Iron Man (Comic)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Cap-Ironman Bingo, Civil War Fix-It, Extremis, Fix-It, Gen, Hallucinations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-07-06
Updated: 2015-07-06
Packaged: 2018-04-07 21:23:50
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,179
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4278435
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/AnonEhouse/pseuds/AnonEhouse
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Extremis uses the one person Tony has always listened to, in order to convince him to really talk with Steve in the cell on the helicarrier.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Cleaning up a Mess

**Author's Note:**

> This fills my 'fix-it' square on my Cap-Ironman Bingo card.

(If you are reading this on any PAY site this is a STOLEN WORK, the author has NOT Given Permission for it to be here. If you're paying to read it, you're being cheated too because you can read it on Archiveofourown for FREE.)

"Director on deck!"

Tony hated that. It was a warning, as if he was the enemy. He never wanted to take on that role, even though he could bullshit with the best of them, smiling and lying and trying. Always trying to figure out what he should do, logically, rationally. He kept screwing up, yes, but all that meant was that he had to dance faster. Things were bad, but they could be so much worse. He sent away the guard and turned off the surveillance. This time Steve would have to listen to him. Or at least, that was the theory. He was locked up. He had to listen.

"What?" Steve finally said, without looking at him.

"I begged you to stop," Tony said. He wondered if he should take off the armor, compel Steve to look him in the eyes. No. Iron Man was stronger than Tony Stark. He had to be Iron Man.

"I beg to differ, sir. You need to be Tony Stark."

"Jarvis! What are you doing here?" Tony said, turning to look at his faithful old friend. "And how..." Oh, hell. Another Extremis hallucination. Wonderful. Tony turned back to Steve but the damage had already been done.

"I thought you were mentally ill," Steve said. "Now I know it." He still didn't look up. "All that power doesn't make you a better man. The new suit, new powers you don't understand, it's made you ill."

"I do understand it, Steve. Extremis is..."

"Sir," the Jarvis hallucination said, "you and Captain Rogers _must_ reconcile. I foresee disaster if you fail."

Tony was glad he was hidden behind the suit, so Steve couldn't see him wince. "I had logical reasons for everything I did, Steve. Extremis sometimes uses my subconscious to remind me of important things I've overlooked."

"So, you talk to yourself. That doesn't sound very sane to me."

"Right now, it's telling me that everything falls apart if we don't reconcile."

"Reconcile?" Steve looked up then and the cold fury on his face made Tony brace himself. "How do we reconcile the fact that you're power mad? You think you can decide what's right for everyone! Anyone who stands up for themselves is the enemy! You made a killer clone of Thor. How do we reconcile Goliath's murder?"

Tony was silent for a moment. Jarvis was still standing there, looking disapproving. He pointed at the armor. Tony sighed and pulled the armor back into his bones, to stand in front of Steve in the golden under suit, which always made him feel naked. "We don't. Everything just... escalated and... things went wrong. Reed... No, I take the responsibility. The clone was supposed to be controllable, an edge. It wasn't... it shouldn't have killed."

"But it did, and you can't take that back. You can't take back Spiderman's trust. You can't take back the loyalty of the community you helped create."

"There's a greater community, Steve. SHRA is the law of the land. You're the one who's decided to put yourself above the law."

"Its always been an American citizen's right to act against criminals. You don't have to be registered, _conscripted_ , to be allowed to do what's right! I've seen what happens when citizens don't resist intolerable demands by the state. You have to stand up against tyranny."

"If you're equating the situation to Nazi Germany, this discussion has degenerated to the point of uselessness. But then, it always was, wasn't it?" Tony turned to leave, but Jarvis was standing in his way, scowling at him. Damn his subconscious, it never wanted to give up on Steve. He kept his back to Steve, but he said, "What happened to us?"

"You happened. You got into bed with the wrong people, and now you regret it because it got messy. How did you think we'd react? People need to keep their identities secret so their families are safe! Didn't you see a war coming?"

Tony turned back to Steve. "I saw it. I saw worse. There were... still are... plans that would make you vomit. You want to talk about Nazi atrocities? I saw plans, carefully sanitized and worded, to turn metahumans into experimental animals."

"Choosing the lesser of two evils is still evil."

"It's a bad law! It's an intolerable law! But we can't fight the entire country! The more you use illegal means to oppose it, the stronger the opposition."

"So we just surrender, is that your answer? Go belly up and hope the collars won't be too tight?"

"You surrendered!"

"Yes! I..." Steve stood up and punched the wall. With the power dampening cuffs, he only hurt himself. "We were destroying the city. Endangering the people we were meant to protect."

"Yes." Tony closed his eyes for a moment. "I surrendered first, if you recall. Suppose one of us won the battle. What difference would it make? I'm setting up a Fifty State initiative program, so metahumans can learn, under controlled conditions, how to use their abilities as safely as possible."

"It's conscription at the very least."

"Spiderman once told me, 'with great power comes great responsibility'."

"Don't use his words against me."

"No. I won't. Steve, if you'd stand with me we could fight the law, the right way. In the courts. On the field of public opinion. Politics is a far less dirty business than war. Does might make right? Do you want to win at all cost? I don't. I swear I don't, Steve."

"Let me out, and we'll talk."

Tony considered it. He'd tried talking. Several times. Steve had paralyzed him with a handshake, had beaten him bloody in the mansion, and had used Vision to semi-materialize in Tony's guts, which had been one of the most unpleasant experiences of his life.

"I'm holding onto this situation by my fingernails. You'll keep the power suppressors on, while I show you the evidence, that's the only way I can get you out of this cell without SHIELD deciding I've lost my mind." Tony smiled ruefully. "They don't trust me, either. I'll stand by you, whatever you decide. If it goes to trial, I'll be there at your side. Whatever it looked like, I was always on your side, Steve." Tony shut off the energy bars.

Steve walked out of the cell. He looked at Tony in his golden undersuit. "I could break your neck right now. It doesn't take enhanced strength."

"Trust has to start somewhere." Tony turned his back on Steve and started walking. The hair on the back of his neck stood up. He was sure of one thing- if Steve was going to kill him, he'd do it quick and clean. After a moment, he heard Steve's footsteps following. His neck remained intact.

Jarvis said, "Well done, sir," before he vanished.


End file.
